The defensive insurance this season are Tanev and St. Anton.. the most valuable imo, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Garrison and Edler are supposed to, and they're not bad but they need this performances of the new kids...

SKYO wrote:high octane offense beats out best defense today (Blackhawks over Kings), so that settles it Canucks need a top 6 winger for improved offense.

One interesting thing to note from this thread:

Shortly after I created this thread, the Canucks defensive play picked up quite substantially.

I would even go as far as saying that if these last 7 games are of any indication, then the Canucks might already be able to call themselves one of the Top 3 best defensive clubs in the league.

One area where I was wrong on however, was my argument that we should play similarly to our 2006/2007 style.

As we have proven lately, the Canucks can in fact, score prolifically under Torts 'aggressive forecheck' system, while also maintaining a solid defensive play. We'll see how this set-up translates against more elite teams and in the playoffs should we make it there.

SKYO wrote:Thanks to our deep defense and top 10 goaltending, team can go out and try to land a scorer/sniper to help get a better killer instinct in the final minutes of a game/OT.

I'm all for adding a Top 6 forward as long as we don't move a defenseman to obtain said Top 6 Forward.

The risk of being susceptible to a depleted defensive corps due to injury, far outweighs the benefits of adding a Top 6 Forward in my opinion.

If the Canucks are hell bent on moving a Top 4 d-man like Edler however, I'd much rather see them package Edler with draft picks and prospects to get a guy like Shea Weber.

We couldn't fit Weber under our cap with just trading Edler from the team. Going for a guy like him before the cap goes up and we have to lose a ton of coin first, or in the trade which would deplete us even further up front.

SKYO wrote:Thanks to our deep defense and top 10 goaltending, team can go out and try to land a scorer/sniper to help get a better killer instinct in the final minutes of a game/OT.

I'm all for adding a Top 6 forward as long as we don't move a defenseman to obtain said Top 6 Forward.

The risk of being susceptible to a depleted defensive corps due to injury, far outweighs the benefits of adding a Top 6 Forward in my opinion.

If the Canucks are hell bent on moving a Top 4 d-man like Edler however, I'd much rather see them package Edler with draft picks and prospects to get a guy like Shea Weber.

We couldn't fit Weber under our cap with just trading Edler from the team. Going for a guy like him before the cap goes up and we have to lose a ton of coin first, or in the trade which would deplete us even further up front.

Edler for a goal scorer and bottom 5-6 stay at home D man

If Vancouver wanted to run a 22 man roster and have almost no cap space it could be done. It would be smarter to make that trade at the deadline as there would be room for another forward. With that said, that is a front loaded contract and I doubt Nashville will trade him anytime soon.